The National tribune., 1887-06-09
NOT Aims.
Are Pensions 10 Soldiers Merely Charity to Pau
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Are Pensions 10 soldiers Merely Charity to Pau.
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lS s. Knabenslue, Editor Toledo Blade.l
His Highness, the President received a short
time apo a set of resolutions which had been
adopted by Grand Army Post in Delaware,
commanding him for his veto Of the Depend
ent Pension bill. He wrote a reply, thanking
the members Of the Post for their Endorsement
of his action, and going on So say:
IL sometimes happens That official conduct,
clearly demanded 10y imperative obligation of
public duty. is made difficult 10y counter influences
aud inclinRtioBs which grow out of sympathy, or
boy disposition TO follow with ease and comfort
the apparent current OF popular opinion.
Those of our citizens not holding Office and thus
entirely free from the solemn obligation OF pro-
tecting the interests OF the people, often fail TO re-
nlize that their public servants TO large
tent debarred in official action from the lndui-
Rence of these charitable impulses which ~ pri-
waite life s not only harmless but commendable.
The assumption is here made that pensions
20 broken-down soldiers of the Union army are
mere charity on the part of the Government
that they have no just claim upon the Nation,
and that pension money Is Just that much pub
lic aims gwen 10 beggars There is in this po-
sition OF the President an utter misconception
of the relations of the soldier TO the Govern
ment.
pension is not a charity. il is a recogni-
tiOn of a Just claim upon the Government on
1he part of It's recipient. Such duty as a SOL
dicr performs is not one that can be paid for in
full at SIG per month. The men who faced
death on many well-fought field were inspired
by chat n0best of human emotions patriotism
They did not enlist for the sake of the beg
carly wages they were TO receive. No money
consideration alone could have induced men to
leave the farm, the shop the mill, the forge
the Office, and adopt the hard life of a soldier
lt was the love of country, q devotion TO the
Union, that caused them to respond TO the call
20 arms, and join the ranks 10 do battle for the
Union.
Tens of thousands of them sleep to-day on
Southern soil, having sealed their devotion 10
their country by yielding up their lives in her
defense. And Of those who survived, there are
unfortunately many, very many, who in their
later years are IN desperate need. The Union
army was composed Of the flower of the young
manhood OF the North. The years Of conflict
were time of toll and privatiOn. Those who
returned after the overthrow of the rebellion
often bore in their systems the seeds of future
sickness and suffering. Wounds that were
counted but slight in the hey-day of early
manhood have made their effects felt now that
age comes creeping on. Sickness, and the
privations Of a soldiers life, left their impress
upon the men who endured them, and thou
sands OF men who deemed themselves sound
when mustered out, now suffer from disease or
q general breakdown of the physical system,
which is clearly attributable 10 their army ex-
perience.
Then the fact must not be forgotten that
these heroes Of the war, when they returned 10
peaceful vocati0ns, were placed at a disad van
tage. The places they had vacated when they
obeyed their cOuntry's call were filled by Others.
Men who were side by side with them when the
war began were far ahead Of them when they
returned home. -Four years of campaigning
had not been the best possible school of worldly
advancement They found themselves handi-
capped IN the race OF life; and though many OF
them have achieved success, there are many
more who have not. There are thousands of
them, with nothing but their hands as their
capital, vino have fallen into poverty through
disease aud bodily infirmity.
IL seems clear TO us that these men have a far
stronger claim upon the Government than the
President is willing TO admit in the letter
quoted above. IL is, in point OF fact an insult
- them 10 class them as paupers, and TO say in
effect, that pensions 20 them would be more
charity. They have as sacred and valid claim
upon the country as a helpless child has upon
lis parent. IL ig but a just recognition Of q
Just obligation 10 grant these men, rendered in
capable OF sCli-suppOrt through bodily iniirm-
ity, proper pensions that they may not become
the Inmates OF County inhrmaries and poor
Farms The President takes an unpatriotic
view Of thls matter Every true American
citizen should blush for shame at the senti.
ments expressed in Mr. Cleveland S letter. The
dependent soldiers ask simple justice, not char.
ity; aud il is a burning shame the Chief Ex.
ecutiyc denied II them by his official act